1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a convertible glove. More specifically, the invention relates to a gaming glove with removable finger tip and palm covers.
2. Description of the Background Art
Gloves are used by athletes in a wide variety of sports. For example, gloves are worn by baseball players to ensure a tight hold on baseball bats, by golfers to prevent calluses from repeatedly gripping golf clubs, and by cyclists to absorb sweat when holding on to handlebars. In each instance, the glove must cover a sufficient amount of the hand to provide adequate protection, grip, and moisture absorption. But these objectives must be achieved without covering so much of the hand that the user loses the sense of touch and feel that are often critical in sporting endeavors.
Sporting gloves of the prior art typically employ a fixed and unitary construction with a single piece of material that completely envelops the palm, dorsal side, and digits of the hand. Such gloves afford maximum protection and grip but sacrifice touch and feel. Alternatively, some gloves offer more touch and feel by only covering limited portions of the hand. For example, some cycling gloves cover the palm and dorsal side of the handle while leaving the fingers exposed. Although such gloves vastly improve touch and feel, the wearer is not afforded the option of protecting the finger tips when needed.
The present discussion has thus far contemplated the gloves for such sports as baseball, golf and cycling. However, in recent years, competitive video gaming has risen in prominence and popularity. In fact, there are now numerous video game leagues and tournaments that offer cash prizes to participants. Like athletes in more traditional sports, video gamers in these competitive situations need to ensure a proper grip upon the input device, which is often a joystick, steering wheel or other controller. As such, gamers often turn to baseball or golf gloves in order to achieve a proper grip. Yet, these gloves do not provide any touch and feel to the underlying controller.